It's not often that we actually witness an utter, complete, if past, 
catalogue of picture framing disasters all framed within one picture frame, but recently we came across one. A young lady recently came to us with a pair of late, 18th-century Venetian pen and ink, framed drawings inherited from her grandmother. She liked them, she knew that the frames were damaged and that the framing was sub-standard and commissioned us to reframe the works, which we did, to the required, acid-free standard. We decided that this re-framing commission would be ...
Blog and Guides
We have been picture framing for a long time, since the late 1970's. Back then, Malcom Fraser was our Prime Minister and 200,000 or more Asian migrants and boat people were settling here, helping to make Australia multiracial and multicultural.
That was a long time ago. In those days, the picture framing industry was seasoned, robust, healthy and growing all the time. Now, around half a century later, our once thriving industry is pitifully decrepit.
It is in fact, moribund, impotent and almost infirm. This decrepitude is not due to ageing or industrial ineptitude. Rather, it slowly became thus because of continuous global, technological, economic, political events and circumstances beyond its ken and control.
By and large, the competitiveness engendered by the internet, the dismantling of import duties and tariffs, and our high domestic wages, disproportionate to those of our leaner, meaner and hungrier competitors overseas, all contributed to the slow strangulation and destruction of our local industry.
Sure, there are still isolated, scattered, tenacious survivors, like ourselves, but your local street, or shopping centre picture framer has pretty much disappeared. This is because, and in the main, our Customers find our locally-made products and services far too expensive. Alas, we have outsmarted ourselves.
We kept awarding ourselves such high wages and increasing them for so long and so often that now, most Customers cannot afford custom picture frames and our framing factories have all closed down. Vale, Australia Picture Framers!
Nevertheless, and during all these years, experiences were gathered and lessons learnt, about picture frames, picture framing and our industry, such as it once was. Rather than forsake these rich legacies of small business and suburban manufacturing histories to become unremembered and be forgotten, we have retrieved and curated these here, under the mantle of this News Blog of posts, or blogs. Enjoy!
Picture Framing For Jigsaw Puzzles
Posted on Category: Frame Types & StylesBy:
Making picture frames for jigsaw puzzles is part and parcel of everyday picture framing. Most experienced framers should 
have no problems at all picture framing these reasonably quickly and economically. The cost of framing puzzles ought not be much more expensive than framing an ordinary prints because the same wet-mounting process is used. The picture framer just needs to be careful not to tip, spill, drop or upset the loose the puzzle tiles board brought in by Customers, usually on large, loose, plywood or thick cardboard sheets. Although this is not required, some Customers spray the puzzles with glue, spray-adhesive, Mod Podge or otherwise treat the loose ...
How much of a photo does the picture frame rebate hide, or cover up?
Posted on Category: Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs )By:
A picture frame's rebate ( or rabbet in the USA ) does not cover or hide from view a great 
deal of the art being framed. Typically, it is be around 5 to 7 mm, depending on the moulding ( picture frame ) manufacturer. The circle in the accompanying illustration shows a typical rebate width and ensuing artwork coverage. This "covering" of the artwork normally occurs with all picture frames an photo frames and there are no simple or inexpensive ways to avoid it. Of course, one could use a clip frame, which not being a "proper" frame, has no intrusive rebate and therefore can display the entire artwork but clip frames are a very different product ...
About clear glass and non-reflective (non-glare) glass for picture frames
Posted on Category: Frame Parts & ComponentsBy:
Internationally speaking, in the glazing picture frames, there are 
perhaps a dozen different types of glaze (meaning to cover a surface with a see-through or transparent cover) materials available, depending on where, or the various countries, where pictures frames are being made. Most are made of various kinds of glass and the rest being plastic, polyethylene boards, Perspex or just clear PVC sheeting. With regard to the glass glazing materials, the two major types of picture framing glass found in Australia, are clear float glass and non-reflective glass with the former being the commonest because it is the cheapest. Clear glass, however has two main disadvantages. Firstly it is quite reflective, and secondly ...
I’m from the U.S.A. and confused about the “A series” picture frame sizes, what are these?
Posted on Category: Frame Parts & ComponentsBy:
For generations, Anglophone countries, such as Australia, used the imperial system of measurements which 
included feet and inches. In picture framing, for photo frames and picture frames, inches were the most commonly used unit of measure. So picture frames were known, made and sold in sizes such as 8"x10" , 11"x14, 20"x30", etc. Beginning in 1970, Australia metrication gradually supplanted the imperial system and large scale conversion across the paper, printing, photographic and allied industries industries such as picture framing began. There are many powerful reasons why ...
How To frame Indian Silk Paintings
Posted on Category: Frame Types & StylesBy: Ah! Indian Silk Paintings! We would be quite surprised
if anyone did not know of them or about them. Certainly, we, as picture framers are well acquainted with these works of art, or at least, their facsimili. Bold, beautiful, elaborate, colourful, intricate and highly detailed, exuding, if not dripping, in and with timeless Muslim, Buddhist, Hindus, Muslim, Jain and Sikh traditions, folklore, fairy tales and storytelling . Alas, let's begin by the stating the obvious, Indian silk painting refers to paintings painted on silk, muslin, very thin cotton or cloth. The silk fabric, called Paat in eastern India, Pattu in southern India and Resham in northern part, is a natural, organic, fibre made from the mulberry silkworm ...
I brought my painting home rolled up in a tube, will it be all right to frame?
Posted on Category: Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs )By:
In most cases, though not all, yes, a rolled up painting on canvas 
can be framed. The canvas can be unrolled, allowed to relax and either simply stretched, or fully framed. Sometimes though, either or both methods cannot be performed. Invariably, this is because the painting was painted not in quality or professional artists' oils but in much more common, acrylic, ceiling or house paint. This is frequently true of the large, popular, holiday paintings tourists bring back from many South East Asian destinations. House paints aren't meant to be used for painting art, but because these are so much cheaper, poor, penurious artists often use them. When this happens, none is the wiser. This is largely because when ...
How Wide Do The Margins Need To Be For A Canvas To Be Stretched?
Posted on Category: Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs )By:
To comfortably stretch a canvas over a strainer frame having 2 cm thick 
bars, a canvas margin of about 4 to 5 cm will be needed for sufficient gripping. The canvas is firmly gripped with with a pair of canvas pliers, pulled, held in position, and then stapled in place, as shown in the image here. If the stretcher bar is thicker, add this extra thickness to the above, recommended thickness. The margins of the canvas should have at least this width of all four sides of its sides. This goes for all canvases, whether gallery-wrapped or not. This margin width will allow for the wrapping of the canvas around and over the four sides of the stretcher frame bars. All for canvas margins must be pulled tightly and stapled evenly all ...
Buying Self-Adhesive Foamboards, a Users’ Guide
Posted on Category: Buying GuideBy:For decades, we have been making all sorts of picture frames and many 
types of picture framing. And with that, we also did all methods of mounting. Broadly speaking this mounting process can be categorized as wet-mounting or dry-mounting, and in the latter category, self-adhesive foamboards, feature prominently. It's easy to know why. Properly used, these can offer clean, quick and easy permanent mounting in a matter of seconds. Mounting is more fully detailed and explained in our previous post " Picture framing wizardry and the secrets of mounting" but, basically, it means the bonding or glueing of artwork onto a flat surface so that the art stays and remains flat,
Do you repair broken picture frames and replace smashed photo frames glass?
Posted on Category: Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs )By:
Yes we do repair broken picture frames and replace smashed photo frames glass, but with qualifications and 
limitations. Picture frames repairs and re-glazing ( glazing is the covering of a surface with glass ) can be done by most picture framers provided the frame isn't too badly damaged or has just sprung open, as shown in the picture. Other repairs such as retouching of small scratches, replacing broken glass or decayed rear dust covers or broken cord, or string or hangers or nails or screws is also easily enough done. To repair or restore valuable, historical or antique picture frames which need restoration we recommend a qualified, professional art restorer, particularly when antique gilding or hand-carved mouldings ...